Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A cooling appliance has an appliance body and a door which closes it, with the door being automatically actuable.

The invention relates to a cooling appliance having an appliance bodyand a door which closes it.

Cooling appliances usually have single-wing doors attached via hinges.In this connection, the hinges are each attached to a side wall. Theopening of the door takes place by hand as a rule, with a handle beingarranged at the outer side of the door for this purpose. For the secureand tight closing of the door, it frequently has a peripheral magneticstrip in its edge region which ensures a tight contact of the seal atthe appliance body of the cooling appliance in the closed state.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a newtype of opening mechanism for cooling appliances.

This object is solved in accordance with the invention by thecombination of the features of claim 1. In this connection, the basicinvention consists of the fact that the refrigerator door is no longermanually actuable, but automatically.

This inventive idea finds a plurality of preferred embodiments in thedependent claims following on from the main claim.

The drive for the automatic opening of the door can accordingly takesplace electrically or, alternatively, also pneumatically.

A triggering mechanism for the opening and closing of the door canconsists of a contact-free sensor. In this connection, it can be a lightbarrier system or, for example, a capacitive trigger.

The elements of the automatic drive are advantageously integrated in thedoor. An exception can be formed by the comparatively large structure ofthe power supply which then has to be accommodated in the appliancebody.

The door advantageously consists of a plurality of displaceablysupported door elements.

In this connection, in accordance with an advantageous embodiment, itcan consist of two door elements which are each displaceable for openingin opposite directions laterally outwardly beyond the boundary of theappliance body.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, two door elementscan be present which are each displaceable over one another for opening,whereby in each case one half of the cooling appliance is closed and theother half is accessible.

Finally, in accordance with a preferred embodiment, the door can be madeup of four door elements of which the two respective door elements whichare adjacent to the wall of the appliance body being stationary, withthe middle door elements each being able to be pushed over thestationary door elements for opening.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, the door as awhole or the individual door elements can consist at least predominantlyof glass.

Finally, the drive control is advantageously provided withfinger-jamming protection i or with collision projection.

In accordance with a particularly advantageous embodiment of theinvention, the door with the individual door elements can be pivotablysupported as a whole around hinges. This therefore means that theindividual door elements are formed in the door as sliding elementswhich can be opened, for example to remove the refrigerated product, ina manner controlled by the contact-free sensor. To now fill the wholecooling appliance, it may be advantageous to open the door as a whole,with the whole door with the individually displaceable door elementssupported in it being able to be pivoted open for this purpose aroundlateral hinges. The storing of the refrigerated product is herebypossible in a simple manner. The pivoting open of the door canadmittedly take place automatically in accordance with the invention;however, it an also take place manually since it takes placecomparatively rarely.

Further features, details and advantages of the invention will beexplained in more detail with reference to an embodiment shown in thedrawing. There are shown:

FIG. 1: the front view of an appliance body in accordance with thepresent invention; and

FIGS. 2-4: three different embodiments of the door in accordance withthe invention in the part section A-A of FIG. 1.

An appliance body 10 of a cooling apparatus is shown schematically inFIG. 1 which has a substantially conventional structure. This appliancebody is closed by a door whose mechanism is shown in the differentembodiments of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 which each represent sectionalrepresentations along the line A-A of FIG. 1. In this connection, doors12 are shown in each case in the upper part of the Figure in FIGS. 2, 3,and 4 with door elements which are shown in the closed position in theupper part of the respective Figure and in the respective open positionin the lower part.

They are sliding doors in all the embodiments shown in the Figures.

In FIG. 2, a door 12 is shown which consists of two door elements 14,with the door elements 14 each consisting of glass and eachsymmetrically covering half the appliance body 10 in the closed state,as can be seen from FIG. 2. The door elements 14 are laterallydisplaceable via drives not shown in any more detail here via rails 16which are only indicated here. In the embodiment in accordance with FIG.2, in this connection, the door elements 14 are displaced laterallybeyond the side wall of the appliance body 10 such that the total innerspace of the appliance body is exposed with an open door 12 and is thusavailable for the removal of goods.

The trigger mechanism for the opening and closing of the door is formedin a manner not shown in any more detail here by a contact-free sensorwhich can consist, for example, of a light barrier system or of acapacitive trigger. This mechanism can be integrated at the surface ofthe appliance body so that the door can be opened or closedautomatically on a corresponding approach of the hand of the user.

An alternative embodiment of the door 12 is shown in FIG. 3. Here, thedoor 12 is made of two halves of glass 14 which can be selectivelypushed over one another at the right hand side or at the left hand sideto open the cooling appliance, as results from the representation inaccordance with FIG. 3. In this context, only half of the appliance bodyis respectively exposed.

Finally, a further alternative embodiment of the invention results fromthe representation in accordance with FIG. 4. The door 12 is here madeof four door elements, with the middle two glass quarter doors 16 beingpushable by means of the drive behind the two stationary fixed outerglass quarter doors 16 for the goods removal.

The control of the electric or pneumatic drive not shown in any moredetail here has both finger-jamming protection and collision protection.

The doors 12 shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 can be pivotable as a wholearound hinges in a manner not shown in any more detail here. In thiscase shown here, the doors 12 can be manually pivotable. The totalcooling appliance can thus be filled after the pivoting open of the door12. Only the respective door element is opened in the previouslydescribed manner for the removal of the refrigerated product, forexample of beverage cans or beverage bottles.

1. A cooling appliance having an appliance body and a door which closesit, wherein the door is automatically actuable.
 2. A cooling appliancein accordance with the claim 1, wherein the drive for the automaticopening of the door takes place electrically or pneumatically.
 3. Acooling appliance in accordance with claim 1, wherein a triggeringmechanism for the opening or closing of the door consists of acontact-free sensor.
 4. A cooling appliance in accordance with claim 3,wherein the triggering mechanism consists of a light barrier system. 5.A cooling appliance in accordance with claim 3, wherein the triggeringmechanism consists of a capacitive trigger.
 6. A cooling appliance inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the elements of the automatic drive areintegrated in the door.
 7. A cooling appliance in accordance with claim1, wherein the door consists of a plurality of displaceably supporteddoor elements.
 8. A cooling appliance in accordance with claim 7,wherein two door elements are present which are each displaceable inopposite directions laterally outwardly beyond the boundary of theappliance body for opening.
 9. A cooling appliance in accordance withclaim 7, wherein two door elements are present which are eachdisplaceable over one another for opening, whereby a respective half ofthe cooling appliance is closed and half is accessible.
 10. A coolingappliance in accordance with claim 7, wherein four door elements arepresent of which the two respective door elements which are adjacent tothe wall of the appliance body are stationary, with the middle doorelements each being displaceable over the stationary door elements foropening.
 11. A cooling appliance in accordance with claim 10, whereinthe door or the door elements consist/consists at least predominantly ofglass.
 12. A cooling appliance in accordance with claim 1, wherein thedrive control is provided with finger-jamming protection or collisionprotection.
 13. A cooling appliance in accordance with claim 1, whereinthe door with the individual door elements is pivotable as a wholearound hinges.
 14. A cooling appliance in accordance with claim 2,wherein a triggering mechanism for the opening or closing of the doorconsists of a contact-free sensor.
 15. A cooling appliance in accordancewith claim 14, wherein the triggering mechanism consists of a lightbarrier system.
 16. A cooling appliance in accordance with claim 14,wherein the triggering mechanism consists of a capacitive trigger.
 17. Acooling appliance in accordance with claim 16, wherein the elements ofthe automatic drive are integrated in the door.
 18. A cooling appliancein accordance with claim 15, wherein the elements of the automatic driveare integrated in the door.
 19. A cooling appliance in accordance withclaim 14, wherein the elements of the automatic drive are integrated inthe door.
 20. A cooling appliance in accordance with claim 13, whereinthe elements of the automatic drive are integrated in the door.